Plectrums (or, “picks” as they are commonly known) are devices which help a user “pick” or strum stringed instruments of the lute family such as a guitar, banjo or mandolin. A problem often arises when a performer needs multiple picks for the different instruments and styles of music he may play during a concert. Often, for example, jazz musicians like a small pick with no flexibility, but will have to change their pick to play an acoustic guitar. Problems also exist with users having larger fingers (e.g., thumbs), which may make a plectrum difficult to use or control while playing a guitar. And, many performers like to use the plectrum at an angle relative to the guitar strings. The present invention is designed to address these and other drawbacks in prior art designs.
Various attempts have been made in the past to provide picks which allow the musician some degree of different picking abilities without having to quickly change between a stiff pick and a soft pick while playing the instrument midstream. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,622 to Storey discloses a plectrum having a flexible mid portion. With this invention, the scope of flexibility is only within the one primary flexible area of the pick. As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,228,719 to Keene discloses a pick with different flexibilities in each playing corner owing to the provision of different sized holes in the corners. However, in order to take advantage of the different flexibilities, it is necessary to rotate the pick in the musician's fingers which is virtually impossible between individual notes, especially during speed picking.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,459,274 to Galetzky discloses a mandolin pick including a rather complicated slide and screw adjustment mechanism for altering the pick's properties. The adjustment mechanism is not suitable for use during a performance and particularly between the playing of individual notes. Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 1,009,403 to Gaynor discloses a picking device having a cup mechanism which when squeezed by the musician alters the flexibility of the pick but only between soft and stiff with no intermediate range or the ability to vary the flexibility gradually or to have no flexibility at all.
It is therefore desirable to be able to shift quickly between the relatively hard and soft tones available from different picks when playing notes on a musical instrument such as a guitar, without having to switch between picks in the middle of a song. The present invention solves this desire. Because of its optional flexible characteristics, the pick according to the present invention is capable of producing both hard and soft tones. Furthermore when the pick of the present invention is extended to its full height, the musician is able to hold the tip section of the pick for a hard gauge, or could let the tip section flex whilst holding the grip section, allowing the tip section to flex. While the present invention refers to the term “height”, those of skill in the art will recognize that this is a relative term, so that the present invention may also be “length” adjustable by merely rotating the present invention ninety degrees, so that the term “height” may also be equated with the term “length”.
Further, a musician may choose to close off the flexible section altogether by engaging (or, closing) the two halves of the pick together to form a solid, non-flexible pick structure. Likewise, by doing this, the pick becomes smaller. Smaller picks are often preferred by jazz musicians, and in this configuration, the pick of the present invention has a very hard and positive strike of a note on the stringed instrument. Musicians can also open (or, spread apart) the pick effortlessly for flexibility during playing a song on the string instrument.
Those of skill in the art will now come to realize that other advantages exist according to the present invention. For example, because the present pick is height adjustable, musicians with large hands and fingers can elongate the pick to accommodate the size of the musician's fingers. Moreover, some musicians hold a pick at an angle in order to “slice” a note or angle the pick in order to slide over the strings while playing a chord. The adjustment in the pick's angularity in relation to a string on the instrument allows a musician to adjust the pick's tip at an angle relative to the top grip portion. Moreover, the adjustable characteristics (e.g., height-wise and angularly) of the present invention allow many more users to use the present invention comfortably and with confidence.
The present invention was developed in order to overcome these and other drawbacks of the prior devices by providing a single plectrum that is height and/or angular adjustable over the entire spectrum. The present invention may function equivalently as a stiff or thick pick that enables a musician to strike an instrument's strings with a stronger attack. The present invention may also function equivalently as a very thin pick, which allows the musician to brush over a string or strings in order to produce a softer tone. Because of the present invention's angular and height adjustability, the present invention may also function as every pick variation therebetween, and every variation can be made quickly without interruption of the song being played by the musician.
The present invention has been developed in order to overcome these and other drawbacks of the prior art devices by providing an adjustable plectrum having at least a top grip portion that is adapted to receive a bottom tip portion, the bottom tip portion in one embodiment having at least one leg, the leg preferably providing flexible characteristics and a connection means to the top grip portion. Therefore the top grip portion and the bottom tip portion are preferably adjustably connectable and can be configured in several different ways.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention and the accompanying drawings.